1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the art and jewelry craft industry, and more particularly to a hand tool for making the Viking Knit weave from wire for use in art and jewelry pieces.
2. Related Art
Viking Knit is an old, traditional wire weave made by a looping technique of the wire around a cylindrical form such as a wooden dowel. The resulting woven wire tube is then gradually reduced in diameter by sequentially pulling the tube through a series of holes of diminishing diameters. Then the drawn Viking Knit is formed into jewelry and other decorative objects.
Methods for fabrication of traditional Viking Knit are centuries old, and have included the use of a solid, cylindrical form such as bone, wood in various sizes, wooden dowels, pencil shapes or more recently, even Allen wrenches. These items are most often attached to a stationary device such as a vise or clamp for ease of manufacture.
According to the prior art practice, before beginning the Viking Knit weave, a start-up bundle of wire loops must be constructed. This is a hand-formed, single-use group of looped wires than can be made by wrapping wire around a thin, solid form, approximately 1″ by ⅛″, to form loops that are then twisted or made stationary at one end. When the loose loops are parted they are shaped into a semi-flat flower petal-like form that is then bent over one end of the dowel, pencil or Allen wrench, and held in place by the wire shape itself, adhesive tape, additional wire or other means. The bent over form is then used as a base to begin the wire weaving process for the Viking Knit technique. Because the loose loops are not rigid, it can be difficult to get the Viking Knit weave started.
The prior art start-up bundle does not spin freely about a vertical axis as the Knit forms at the end of the dowel, pencil or Allen wrench. Later, the start-up bundle is used as a means of pulling the finished Viking Knit through a draw plate, a series of progressively smaller sized drilled holes, often made from a piece of wood. The Knit is drawn through increasingly smaller holes in the plate, allowing the Knit to reduce in diameter and increase in length. The start-up bundle is then cut away and discarded. Therefore, a new start-up bundle is created for each project.
New wire is added making a small hook at one end of the new wire or by inserting the new wire randomly into the existing Knit and holding it in place until the attachment is made following several additional stitches. An awl or other sharp, pointed instrument is used sometimes to lift the wire from the dowel, pencil or Allen wrench, whereby new stitching is created underneath. Also, preferably, the tool of the present invention is provided in a kit with a separate pointed instrument, like a thumb tack or push pin.
An example of one prior art device for making the Viking Knit is the kit currently advertised at CoolToolChick.com (http://www.cooltoolchick.com/viking.html).